Stavka

The Stavka was the high command of the armed forces of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union. Its Russian-language name means "tent", referencing the fact that it represents the headquarters of the military. From 1915 to 1917, during World War I, Czar Nicholas II of Russia headed the Stavka from Mogilev, and the World War II-era Stavka was established on 23 June 1941, immediately after Operation Barbarossa began. Joseph Stalin, Semyon Timoshenko, Georgy Zhukov, Vyacheslav Molotov, Kliment Voroshilov, Semyon Budyonny, and Nikolay Kuznetsov were its original members. On 10 July 1941, Stalin became Supreme Commander, and he replaced Timoshenko as President of the Stavka. The Stavka ended upon the end of the war in 1945.